Jane writes:

Please help! My brother & his wife are expecting their first baby, a girl, in mid November and while I couldn’t be happier for them or more excited to be an aunt again I…Well, I don’t even know how to describe how I feel about the name they’ve settled on.

Felony Fever Vice. 3 bad things, all of which are not names. Why…How…and OH GOD WHY?

I really wish I could tell you it’s all a joke, but no.

Any suggestions on a NICE way I can try to talk them out of this travesty? Any suggestions for names with a similar sound to Felony, but without the bad connotations? When I asked my SIL why Felony, she said she “just really likes the sound and flow”. Please help my help them find something with the same “sound & flow”, preferably something that wont scar the kid for life!

Gina writes:

I came across this today and am dying to see your suggestions. I’m due in mid-November with my second baby, the sex is unknown. We have one daughter named Renee Rose and we are struggling with coming up with boy or girl names this time.

Girls: We both like Camille, Jocelyn, Josephine, Katherine (Kate), Jane and Erin. I like Lynea and Lyra but he doesn’t like any of them. I would like another feminine name like Renee if it is a girl and he hates harsh sounding names like Beth.

Boys: We both like Cameron, Sean, Ryan and sort of Liam but I don’t really want two R names (Renee and Ryan). I like Kaleb and Julian and he hates them both. We both are drawn to the classic names like Peter, Paul and Mark but like ALL of them and not ONE of them.

I don’t want anything that isn’t obviously a name or anything that ends in the EEEE sound because of our last name. No places and no odd, made-up names that no one has ever heard of. Other than that, I’m fairly open (haha)!

From your girl name list, I like Camille best: Renee and Camille both have a French sound, so I like the way they go together. Renee and Jocelyn, Renee and Erin—I like those too. I’ll add:

Elise; Renee and Elise
Noelle; Renee and Noelle
Celeste; Renee and Celeste
Corinne; Renee and Corinne
Nicole; Renee and Nicole

From your boy name list, my favorite is Sean. I’ll add:

Dean; Renee and Dean
Joseph; Renee and Joseph
Benjamin; Renee and Benjamin
Nathaniel; Renee and Nathaniel
Nicholas; Renee and Nicholas
Stephen; Renee and Stephen

Let’s make one giant poll with all the girl and boy choices. Please choose one girl name AND one boy name. [Poll closed; see below]

[Poll Results:

Girl names (243 votes total):
Camille: 92 votes, roughly 38% of girl name vote
Jocelyn: 15 votes, roughly 6%
Josephine: 10 votes, roughly 4%
Katherine (Kate): 14 votes, roughly 6%
Jane: 3 votes, roughly 1%
Erin: 10 votes, roughly 4%
Elise: 25 votes, roughly 10%
Noelle: 21 votes, roughly 9%
Celeste: 15 votes, roughly 6%
Corinne: 28 votes, roughly 12%
Nicole: 10 votes, roughly 4%

Boy names (235 votes total):
Sean: 35 votes, roughly 15%
Cameron: 24 votes, roughly 10%
Ryan: 6 votes, roughly 3%
Liam: 34 votes, roughly 14%
Dean: 12 votes, roughly 5%
Joseph: 15 votes, roughly 6%
Benjamin: 22 votes, roughly 9%
Nathaniel: 32 votes, roughly 14%
Nicholas: 38 votes, roughly 16%
Stephen: 17 votes, roughly 7%]

[Update! 11-21-2008 Gina writes:

thanks so much! a little boy, cameron paul was born on 11/13. it was so fun to see what people voted for! thanks!]

Liz writes:

Ok, so we’re having a girl, our first…and we’ve realized we like very few girl names.

Our last name is Giesbrecht, and her middle name will for sure be Faye, named after my best friend who passed away a few years ago.

We have a couple names we like, and just a few weeks ago, I had a brainstorm and am thinking of using my Grandmother’s maiden name for our daughter’s name.

The names we both like are :
Georgia (sweet Georgia Faye)
Madelyn (too common now, in my opinion)
Lily (husband’s favorite)

and the maiden name….Ellington. Is that too weird? It sounds like the girl off of So You Think You Can Dance, Karington. I love the name and it sounds cute shortened to Ellie. . Ellie Faye…But could we ever call her the formal Ellington? It sounds masculine on it’s own without the middle name…
Advice? Input? Any other names suggestions?

Ellington is a terrific surname name, and the great nickname Ellie makes it easy to use. If I were considering using it, my main worry would be coordinating it with the names of future siblings.

With the exception of Ellington, all the names you’re looking at fall into a category The Baby Name Wizard calls “Antique Charm.” The trouble is, this is a category many people like—so any name I might suggest (Adeline, Ava, Charlotte, Clara, Lucy, Lydia, Sadie, Violet, etc.) is either already as common as Madelyn or in danger of becoming as common as Madelyn.

Still. I’m adding Eliza Faye Geisbrecht and Clara Faye Giesbrecht, because I love them both. Let’s take a vote! The poll is to the right. [poll closed; see below]

[Poll results (273 votes total):
Georgia Faye: 79 votes, roughly 29%
Madelyn Faye: 9 votes, roughly 3%
Lily Faye: 19 votes, roughly 7%
Ellington Faye: 113 votes, roughly 41%
Eliza Faye: 26 votes, roughly 10%
Clara Faye: 27 votes, roughly 10%]

Name update 03-18-2009! Liz writes:

So sorry for being so behind on the update! Ellington Faye was born Oct 28, and we couldn’t be happier with her name. Thanks so much for the suggestions and it was really neat to see how people voted (Ellington had a strong 41% lead, which did help us decide!) and how they weighed in with the name suggestions. We’ll be back when it’s time to name Ellie’s future brother or sister!

Jennifer writes:

I need a great name for a third boy
steven walker jordan, III
dad goes by walker, which i LOVE
g-dad goes by Steve
i love Tripp but a close family friend already used that.
Is Walk a strech?
any idea are welcome.

I don’t think Walk is a stretch, but it doesn’t seem like it helps much, either: having a Walker and a Walk is like having a Steven and a Steve.

You have such a great last name, I’m tempted to suggest using it. Like, could you call him Jordy? But then you’d have Jordy Jordan when you needed to use his full name. That’s…not ideal.

Other common nicknames for a III are Trey (from the French “tres” for three, which is pronounced roughly like the English word “tray”) and Trace (from the Spanish “tres” for three, which is pronounced roughly like the English word “trace”). I particularly like Trace, and even more with your last name: I think Trace Jordan sounds like a really cool guy.

Name update! Jennifer writes: “Just wanted to let you guys know we chose Walk. thanks so much for all of your help!”

Claire writes:

We are about to have our 2nd daughter and really need help with a name. We have a 3 year old named Harley Jane. My husband and I both love her name and agreed on it instantly! This time around, no such luck.

The only thing we have agreed on is the middle name: Diane (for my mother who passed away from cancer last year)

Hubby loves the name Kennedy. Me, not so much.
I love the name Lila. Hubby, not so much.

I mentioned the name Hannah, and while we both like it (and how it sounds with Harley), we aren’t sure about both the girls having names beginning with “H”. We do plan on having more children,so we don’t want to lock ourselves into using only “H” names. And if we used the name Hannah, and have another child with a name beginning with something other than “H”, we don’t want them to feel left out.

We really need your help! Do you have any suggestions for our baby girl? I am afraid she will be born and we will call her baby girl for the rest of her life!

It’s a good idea to think ahead about initials, especially if you’d feel trapped into having more H names. I think an even bigger issue for me in this situation would be that the names Harley and Hannah are different in both style and popularity. Harley is contemporary, creative, and boyish/androgynous; Hannah is traditional, conservative, and girly. The name Harley was #481 in 2007; the name Hannah was #9 (source: Social Security Administration).

As with the issue of initials, this is purely personal: some people like more matchiness than others. I like names to be roughly similar in style and popularity (though I don’t let it stop me from using a name I Love Love Love), but you may not feel that way about it. And “Harley and Hannah” does have appeal: it sounds almost like a children’s television show. But you can imagine what the show would be about, right? Harley would be tough and bold and outgoing; Hannah would be sweet and polite and scared to get into trouble. The appeal is in the contrast, and for siblings you may not want that.

I think the name Kennedy goes great with Harley, but if you’re meh about it, I’m tossing it. And your husband is meh about Lila, so that one goes out too. Let’s see if we can find some more options:

Aubrey; Harley and Aubrey
Avery; Harley and Avery
Darcy; Harley and Darcy
Delaney; Harley and Delaney
Ellery; Harley and Ellery
Ellison; Harley and Ellison
Emerson; Harley and Emerson
Jalen; Harley and Jalen
Larkin; Harley and Larkin
Merrit; Harley and Merrit
Rowan; Harley and Rowan

Some of those may be too similar for your tastes: for example, do you want a repeating “ar” sound, as in hARley and dARcy, or hARley and lARkin? It’s a matter of personal preference: some people will love the way those names are very different and yet coordinated by a common sound; other people will find the common sound too matchy.

The two that stand out to me are Delaney and Emerson. Because I can’t choose just one, I won’t make you choose just one either: please vote for TWO choices in the poll to the right [poll closed; see below].

[Poll results (476 votes total):
Aubrey: 53 votes, roughly 11%
Avery: 65 votes, roughly 14%
Darcy: 18 votes, roughly 4%
Delaney: 68 votes, roughly 14%
Ellery: 22 votes, roughly 5%
Ellison: 22 votes, roughly 5%
Emerson: 78 votes, roughly 16%
Jalen: 4 votes, roughly 1%
Larkin: 32 votes, roughly 7%
Merrit: 41 votes, roughly 9%
Rowan: 73 votes, roughly 15%]

[Name update 10-21-2008! Claire writes:

Thanks to everyone for the help and all the great suggestions! We were really torn between Emerson and Merrit (although the hubby kept trying for Kennedy!).

However, we are pleased to announce that Emerson Diane was born on Friday, October 3! Mother and baby are both doing extremely well. We love her name and love her even more! Thank you!]

Hannah writes:

I’m having fraternal twin girls arriving October 2! They will join big sister Cecelia Claire, age 3. Our last name sounds like Hornsteen but starts with an O.

For Baby A, we were considering Rosabel, my grandmother’s name, for a long time. We’re on the fence about whether to use it as a first name or a middle name – we like Rosabel Charlotte, Rosabel Olivia, and Veronica Rosabel. My husband, Nathaniel, prefers Rosabel as a first name. He likes the idea of the nicknames Roo – the initials of Rosabel Olivia Hornsteen – or Rosie. I’m not 100% sold on it – I’m really loving the name Veronica right now.

For Baby B, we’re so conflicted on what to choose! I really love the name Ava Catherine, but Ava is the #1 name in my state for baby girls at the moment, and popular isn’t really our style. I would still consider it as a middle name, though. We also like Alexandra, Georgina, Julia, and Stella. We would also really like to use Eleanor as a middle name, if possible. Eleanor is Nathaniel’s grandmother’s name.

We’re open to all combinations, new suggestions, and whatever you have to offer. Thanks in advance for all your help!

I love Rosabel: it’s beautiful and unusual; there’s a family tie-in; and the popularity of the name Isabelle means the sound of the name is likely to be a big hit. Olivia is my favorite of your middle name choices, and “Roo” and “Rosie” are both great nicknames.

But I’m no good as a tie-breaker here, because I also love Veronica Rosabel. And if you use both grandmothers’ names as middle names, it gives a very pleasing balance.

Wait—you’re having two girls. Could you use Rosabel AND Veronica? Rosabel Olivia and Veronica Eleanor? The name Eleanor runs into your surname a little (EleanOR HORnsteen), but I think that kind of thing is fine for a middle name, especially when there’s a good family reason to use the name.

Looking at your other candidates, they all look too strong and sassy to pair with Rosabel: Rosabel and Georgina. Rosabel and Ava. Rosabel and Stella seems like it might lead to people saying Rosabella accidentally. Rosabel and Alexandra might work, except the name Alexandra is so much more common: Rosabel hasn’t hit the Top 1000 any time in the last 200 years, while Alexandra’s been in there solidly since 1938—and in the Top 50 since 1988 (source: Social Security Administration).

How about Alessandra? It’s similar to Alexandra, but less common and it increases the femininity to be a better match for Rosabel. The name Lissandra seems even better to me, and less prone to people mishearing it as Alexandra: Rosabel and Lissandra. Lissandra Eleanor Hornsteen. You could use Leo as a nickname, to go with Roo.

Or maybe Clarissa? Or….. Well, I’m finding what you probably found, which is that Rosabel is a tough name to coordinate, and especially as part of a twin set where the coordination or lack thereof is going to stand out even more glaringly than with other siblings.

I think there are two good options here:

1. Go with his first pick (Rosabel) and your first pick (Veronica). Rosabel Olivia Hornsteen (ROO) and Veronica Eleanor Hornsteen (VEO). Cecelia, Rosabel, and Veronica. This is my favorite option, because I like the way you both get your first choice. I also like the way HE’S the one who wants YOUR grandmother’s name promoted to first-name status: that evens out any potential family ruffles about whose family name is more favored.

2. Shift Rosabel to the middle name slot, like Eleanor. Pick two of your remaining choices, perhaps Veronica and Julia, or Georgina and Stella, and pair them up with the middle names. Maybe Georgina Rosabel Hornsteen (GRO) and Veronica Eleanor Hornsteen (VEO); Cecelia, Georgina, and Veronica.

What do the rest of you think? Are there more options here? What would you do?

[Name update! Hannah writes:

Thank you to all your readers for your help! Rosabel Olivia Hornsteen and Eleanor Veronica Hornsteen were born on October 2, 2008. They’re both healthy, beautiful girls and their names suit them perfectly!]

Lucy writes:

Hi, I am due at the end of September and my husband and I STILL haven’t picked a name out for the little one. We don’t know what we are having, so we really need boy and girl suggestions. We already have a daughter named Virginia Leigh. Leigh is my middle name as well as my father’s (his spelled Lee). We usually call her Virginia, but sometimes use Ginny as well.

Lately, we have really been diggin more modern names. I am afraid of choosing something too modern because Virginia is such a classic, traditional name. Should we choose something more classic for this one as well?

For a girl, we like (but aren’t in love with) Rosalie and Fiona. Some more traditional names for a girl that we like (but again aren’t in love with) are Elizabeth and Margaret. I think we have decided on Jane as the middle name. I love the name Millicent, but my husband is on the fence about this one.

As for boys, we both like Edmund, but think it sounds too harsh with our last name (Haggerman). What do you think? We haven’t thought of middle names either. We have also tossed around Braden. Braden might be out though, because I am afraid people might think it is supposed to be Brandon. Am I just being weird now? My husband and I really need help with boys name, especially ones that go with Virginia.

We need your help!

I like ALL your girl names, and I like them all with Virginia. I think if you were suggesting names such as Kaylee and Jaiden I would gently steer you toward something less contemporary, but your choices work. Other names to consider:

Annabel Jane Haggerman (AJH), Virginia and Annabel
Clara Jane Haggerman (CJH), Virginia and Clara
Eliza Jane Haggerman (EJH), Virginia and Eliza
Felicity Jane Haggerman (FJH), Virginia and Felicity
Violet Jane Haggerman (VJH), Virginia and Violet

On to boy names. Hm, Edmund Haggerman. I think you’re right that it’s a mouthful, but would you call him Ed? Ed Haggerman sounds great, as does Eddie Haggerman. I’m trying to make this work because I like the name Edmund. Would you consider Everett? Everett Haggerman.

As for Braden—may I gently steer you toward something less contemporary? Braden is a name that fits more with the Kaylees and Jaidens, less with the Virginias and Edmunds. A name I think balances beautifully between contemporary appeal and traditional roots is Owen. Owen Haggerman.

What do you (and I mean all of you, not just Lucy) think of the name Jasper? I’ve been toying with that one for awhile. Jasper Haggerman. This is getting disorganized; let’s make a list.

Everett Haggerman, Virginia and Everett
Owen Haggerman, Virginia and Owen
Jasper Haggerman, Virginia and Jasper
Garrett Haggerman, Virginia and Garrett

This is going to be a long poll, but I think we’re up to the challenge. Since we don’t know if the baby is a boy or a girl, please choose one boy name AND one girl name. The poll is to the right. [poll closed; see below]

[Poll results:

Girl names (250 votes total):
Rosalie: 40 votes, 16%
Fiona: 25 votes, 10%
Elizabeth: 16 votes, roughly 6%
Margaret: 20 votes, 8%
Annabel: 32 votes, roughly 13%
Clara: 40 votes, 16%
Eliza: 28 votes, roughly 11%
Felicity: 27 votes, roughly 11%
Violet: 22 votes, roughly 9%

Boy names (250 votes total):
Edmund: 37 votes, roughly 15%
Everett: 50 votes, 20%
Owen: 94 votes, roughly 38%
Jasper: 37 votes, roughly 15%
Garrett: 32 votes, roughly 13%]

[Name update! 09-22-2008

Thank you so much for all of your advice and suggestions. It gave us so much more to talk about. This is Lucy’s husband. We just wanted to let you know that my wife gave birth late last night/early this morning to a beautiful baby boy.

Owen Jasper Haggerman

We really hadn’t thought of either names, but immediately fell in love with both as soon as we read them. Thank you again for all of the suggestions!

Many thanks,
Kevin, Lucy, Virginia, and the newest addition Owen]

Melissa writes:

Hi! We’re expecting #2 on October 6th (or, if you believe the doctor, more likely in late September), our second girl, and are sort of stumped on the perfect name. (Although we still agree on the perfect BOY name we picked out the first time around, pretty well ensuring that we will never have boys to name. Oh well.)

We tend to the very traditional on naming and prefer names that have meanings we like. Any name that’s likely to get shortened needs to have a “good” nickname that we can establish early on. My husband is Jewish, so using the name of a living relative is off the table, although we’d love to find a name with family meaning otherwise. Not a lot to choose from there on the girl side, unfortunately – we’re not big on the Doris, Helen, Mary category (traditional but meh).

Daughter #1 is Abigail Claire – Abigail means “father’s joy” (which she absolutely is) and Claire is after my grandfather (Clarence). We loved it as soon as we hit on it, and 2 1/2 years later it’s still the Perfect Name. We sometimes wish Abigail weren’t so popular (we didn’t know – I swear!) but we still love the name. So now we need to match it!

Our front-runner first name right now is Caroline (my grandmother’s middle name), which we might shorten to Callie if we get the urge. I also love Margaret (with Maggie or Meg as the short options), Madeleine, and Amelia (would be Mia for short). My husband likes Hannah, Rachel and Sarah. We’re considering Elizabeth for the middle name, although I’d also love Emma, especially since it’s too popular to use for a first name!

Help us find the perfect name! Thanks!

All of your options look great to me. Let’s put them in a list with the sibling name so we can take a good look at them:

Abigail and Caroline
Abigail and Margaret
Abigail and Madeleine
Abigail and Amelia
Abigail and Hannah
Abigail and Rachel
Abigail and Sarah

Abigail and Amelia seem too similar to me for sisters—but then, I get confused if I’m reading a book and two characters have names that start with the same letter.

My favorite, I think, is your frontrunner. Abigail and Caroline is a great combination, and the nicknames are cute together: Abby and Callie. I like Caroline Elizabeth, and I also like Caroline Margaret.

But I don’t see how you could go wrong with any of the names on your list. They’re all great girl names. Let’s put it to the vote and see what everyone else thinks. Poll is to the right. [poll closed; see below]

[Poll results (215 votes total):
Caroline: 122 votes, roughly 57%
Margaret: 20 votes, roughly 9%
Madeleine: 20 votes, roughly 9%
Amelia: 20 votes, roughly 9%
Hannah: 13 votes, roughly 6%
Rachel: 12 votes, roughly 6%
Sarah: 8 votes, roughly 4%]

[Name update 10-21-2008! Melissa writes:

Thanks to everyone for input on daughter #2’s name. Caroline Amelia was born on October 3rd, healthy and gorgeous, and her name suits her perfectly! The middle name was up in the air until the last minute, but Amelia finally won out over Elizabeth. Her big sister is very proud of “her baby Caroline” and so are we!

Thanks again!]

Britta writes:

I’m so glad you agree that naming a boy is difficult. We have an 17 month old daughter whose name is Alexandra Rose. A lovely name, I think. She is generally called Ally, although I love all of her nickname-potential, including Alex.

So, I’m pregnant with a boy, due at the end of September. While we named Alexandra by 22 weeks, we absolutely cannot decide on a name for this little man. I like Luke. We both like Luke. In fact, if Alexandra was a boy, she would have been Luke. That, my husband says, means we cannot name this baby Luke. Because we already used it. Or because its a second-hand name or something. Whatever – I know – but I’m married to him. What’s your opinion on this? (I think if I kicked and screamed, he’d go with Luke, but I would like us to both love our baby’s name. Not merely tolerate it!)

He likes Michael Patrick. I hate it. The whole thing. Too Irish. Too boring. Too “Patrick.” I like more unique names. My suggestion was Beau. Of course, I’ve made many suggestions, but my husband is very picky on boy names.

Finally, after some pouting that we’d never name this tyke, my husband suggested John Lawrence. Which I like -I like the nickname Jack. And it’s a good, strong name. But again it is sooooo boring. My own name has never been in the top 1000 names and I love my name. My husband’s name is James – he is contsantly battling off people calling him ‘Jim’ and answering for the other 3 James/Jims he works with. I understand boy names sometimes need to be “stronger” and less unique, but JOHN? That must be the lifetime record holding most common name ever. I suggested Peter. No luck. I re-suggested Luke. Nothing. Come on! Those are Bible names. I’m not being crazy, here.

So, please help us! If it helps, the other girl names we agree on (you’ll see a trend) are Rebecca and Victoria.

Here is what I think: you should use Luke.

But! I’ve known other people who consider a name “used up” if it was a finalist for a previous baby, and so I’m not unfamiliar with that concept—and I know what you mean about wanting your husband to be on board with the name, not just giving in. Besides, if my entire advice is “You should use Luke,” then this post is over already and I am not ready for that.

For one thing, I want to talk about the name John. Paul, too, says the name John is boring. In fact, he says it is the epitome of boring. I think it SEEMS boring because it is so familiar and because it is used as a stand-in for Man’s Name (John Q. Public, John Doe, etc.), but that in actual usage it is a surprisingly satisfying name. I think many names seem exciting during the pregnancy and later seem ordinary (or worse, disappointing in their unusualness: e.g., “I had no idea Landon was so common! I thought we were choosing something unique but we know two other Landons already!”), but that the name John would be the opposite: with time, you would grow more and more surprised by it.

Also, while the name John FEELS common, it is not particularly. Cast your mind around to the children you know. Anyone named John? Many boys named John are named after relatives and called by a different name—and currently, many boys named John are given the name only so they can be called Jack. Actual boys named and called John? Few.

I also like the name Michael. These solid, classic boy names—I know what you mean about them not being very exciting to choose, and they’re not very exciting to announce, either. But with time, they sure do sit well.

Would it help if you got to choose the middle name? Many a happy compromise has been reached in this way. Your husband gets the common name he wants, but you get to choose something more unusual for the middle name spot.

In the meantime, let’s have a poll. It’s in the righthand margin. [poll closed; see below]

[Poll results (207 votes total):
Luke: 154 votes, roughly 74%
John: 43 votes, roughly 21%
Michael: 10 votes, roughly 5%]

[Name update! 10-04-2008 Britta writes:

We went with your advice and welcomed Luke Timothy into our family on October 1. Big Sister Alexandra is learning to say “Luke.”]

Katie writes:

My husband and I are expecting Baby #2 in a few weeks. We do not know the sex, which is driving me CRAZY! We have no girl name at all because we totally disagree on girl names. Well, actually we both like Anna. But have heard that “Anna Banana” is all she’ll ever hear, which isn’t so great. Care to comment on that one? (otherwise my favorite girl names are Caroline and Madeline. My husband’s are Brianna and Savannah–and we both HATE the other person’s choices and will not budge! Suggestions?)

But, this really isn’t my main question. I have two other questions about our boy names:

1. Our boy name, Andrew, was chosen a long time ago (when pregnant with our daughter). It was always, always my favorite boy name without question. But, now we live up the street from an Andrew, who is my daughter’s 2-year old friend and will be in her preschool and who we see ALL THE TIME. And, well……he isn’t MY Andrew. And he screams and bites and his mom is always screeching his name. SCREECHING! And it is kind of ruining the name for me. I like the nickname Andy, but not Drew and neither nickname sounds particularly great with our last name, which starts with a D (and it gets to D sounding with the nicknames). Also, it would be very confusing to have two Andrews running around, since we hang out every day. Is this name permanently ruined for me? What are the chances that we’ll always live right near these other people? And if so, will it just be too confusing? And will the name ever regain its favored status in my mind? Or will I always hear the screech and see the biting and screaming Andrew?

2. Also, the middle name we have selected for a boy is “Wesley.” This is based on the place name where my husband and I met. Is this weird? Would you find it weird to be named after a place your parents met? Because I kind of think it is kind of…..strange… now, but my husband really loves the idea. What do you think?

Okay, now on to the other naming issues!

I think Anna is one of the most perfect girl names there is, and if you agree on it and you don’t agree on any other names, I think you should use it. I do think the nickname Anna Banana is inevitable, and I’m sure a lot of Annas get pretty sick of it—but did you see that custom-printed M&Ms ad where they show “Happy Birthday” and “Anna Banana” printed on the M&Ms and a cute girl having a birthday? That made me think that although it may be a little tiresome, it’s still pretty CUTE. (I can just picture all the Annas clenching their teeth as they read this.)

I notice that your husband’s other choices both end in -anna. Are there any ending-in-anna names you like? Adrianna, Arianna, Elianna, Gianna, Joanna, Julianna, Lianna, Lilyanna, Marianna, Susanna?

And both your choices have the -line ending. Are there any ending-in-line names your husband might like? I used Think Baby Names (annoying site alert: tons of flashing, intruding ads, and they split the result list into many pieces so you have to keep clicking to new pages and seeing more ads) to find Adeline, Emmeline, and Evangeline (there were a lot of others, but it was names like Darryline and Gayline, which, what?)

About the name Andrew, that situation sucks. Well, what do you think? IS the name ruined for you? I asked Paul, “Hey, Paul, if we decided for sure on Genevieve [current top girl name on our list], and then we got to know another couple…” and I laid out the whole thing, and ended with “Would the name be ruined?” We both thought about it. First we both said, “Welllll, I dunno. Depends.” Then we both said, “Yeah, probably. Yeah, ruined.”

Would the rest of you like to give opinions on these issues?

1. Is it weird to name a child for where the child’s parents met?

2. What do you think of the name Anna? Is “Anna Banana” a dealbreaker? (Everyone named Anna, I’m particularly interested to hear from you on this: is it just kind of an eye-roller, or is it a constant torment and you literally wish you had a different name?)

3. Would that situation with the other Andrew ruin the name for you?

[Name update! 10-04-2008 Katie writes:

We named him Andrew afterall. Andrew Wesley. Thanks to all your readers who assured me it wouldn’t be weird to be named after the place your parents met. And sure enough, my perception of the name has changed favorably to my sweet newborn and not the snotty kid down the street! Thanks Swistle fans!]